Lotus Total Mobility Pack Advertisement
Re-enactment at Ashburton Aviation Museum
Saturday 16th January 2010
Words by S. J. Perry
Pictures by Various
At the instigation of Club member, Keith Pickford, we decided that a trip to Ashburton was in order to celebrate the re-enactment of a famous Lotus advertisement from the early '70's.
The Lotus crew met outside 'Cookie Time' in Templeton for the short cruise to Ashburton. Keith had arranged 'Executive' Lotus parking on the Aerodrome and at lunchtime, amid a large gathering, we put together the scene.
The original advertisement proposed the idea that a Lotus Plus 2S could get you from A to B by road more quickly than almost any other car. The compactness of the car coupled with a power output of 118bhp and superlative road holding would see to that! With motoring conditions of the day, the stage was reached when a light executive aeroplane was an essential adjunct to a car for fast, long distance travel. The 'light executive aeroplane' in this case was a Piper Cherokee 140C. Flying was said to be as easy as riding a bike and so to cap it all off, you also got one of the then new Raleigh 'Executive' (folding) bicycles to practice on! The whole package was described as the 'Lotus Total Mobility Pack' and could be bought for a mere £8888 including 35 hours of free flying instruction.
Click HERE to see the Original Advertisement (Requires Microsoft Word)
| The original advertisement (reproduced right), shows the, then new, Lotus Plus 2S with light executive aeroplane (Piper Cherokee 140C) and (folding) bicycle, carried first in the car and then in the aeroplane, which presumably also enabled travel at your destination! The lucky Secretary then got to drive the Lotus back to Head Office. |  |
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As for our re-enactment; it just so happened that there was a gathering at Ashburton Aerodrome to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Piper Aircraft in NZ with the oldest Piper Cherokee in attendance. Club member, Wylie Evans, came along on the run with his +2S and together with a bicycle, which sufficed for the Raleigh Executive, but was more reminiscent of Granville's grocery delivery bike in the TV series 'Open All Hours', all the pieces were coming together. Wylie took on the roll of Corporate Executive. After a great deal of encouragement, a young lady from the gathered crowd was enticement to act as the dutiful wife/secretary and the rest can be seen in the photo at left and those below. What do you think? Do we get an Oscar? |
Our Re-Created Lotus Total Mobility Pack |
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Lotus Cars in the Executive Parking Area |
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A REAL Piper! |
Our Lunchtime Gathering ** Our thanks to Keith Pickford and the Ashburton Aviation
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